Going For My 1st Fue - Is 1600 Grafts Too Little?

[GaryinGeorgia]

I have been a lurker for some time, but I finally made an account because this is the week I will finally be going through an FUE procedure. Here it goes, I've had hair loss since I was basically 32-ish. I started to pay attention to it when I was 39 and it started to affect me like everyone else, but I ignored it mostly until last year when I was dumped by my fiancee because of my receding hair line. Yes, she was a horrible superficial person, but it made me want to look different for me and to elevate my own self esteem. So I'm superficial to an extent as well. I immediately went to a dermatologist who did prescribe me 5mg Finasteride and said to break it into 4 pieces and use this for approximately a year but to return earlier if there are side effects. He prescibed Nizoral 2% as well. He also said to use Rogaine foam twice daily. He was clear that I'll never get my hair back but it will likely not recede further. He said that if I want more, then I could visit a cosmetic doctor. He recommended three independent cosmetic doctors and said to not even consider Bosley as they're butchers. I had to travel far to each one as I live in Georgia. However, I went to all three recommended doctors and decided on Dr Vogel in Baltimore, Maryland. He told me to remain on the Finasteride for a year and to see the results before considering any surgery. His whole staff was quite nice and not pushy in any way. So, I took his advice and a year later, and I'm now 40 and I am a decent responder to the big 3 with no side effects. I don't think I have lost any, so that's good, but not much has improved either. I wish I took before pictures, but I did not think to monitor my progress a year ago. I returned back to Dr. Vogel last month and he said we can proceed if this is what I wanted, which is a definite yes. He explained that he would be using PRP and ACell injection (which needs to be done yearly) and that he will be doing and FUE procedure with 1600 grafts.

My issue is, doesn't this seem like a small amount? I love his results and as much research I have done, I know I'm not at an expert level, and I have seen incredible pics and my primary doctor, who is wonderful, also recommended him as his number 1 choice. Dr. Vogel explained that a scalp is like soil and only so much nutrients can be harvest and regrown in a new area and that this is the max that could be used. It still seems like a small amount though.
My appointment is Thursday, May 17, so I will post more pics as it takes place and make sure to keep progress pics.

 

[michel sapin]

dumped because of receding hairline at 39 ???
how old was she ?

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

dumped because of receding hairline at 39 ???
how old was she ?

She was 34. We had been dating for a year and she literally broke up with me when I proposed on our one year anniversary. Her exact statement was that she "can't have kids with someone that has the male pattern baldness gene, because it would not be fair to the child to be born with that."
She was uninformed and very conceited horrible person now that I look back.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

She may have just not wanted to marry or just wanted to leave me and didn't know any other way to do it, but that was her excuse that she gave. I have not missed her at all, but it still hurt my ego in a terrible way.

 

[Murkey Thumb]

I think about 1600 grafts would be enough but i would go for 2000 grafts and ask for a lot of singles for the hair line.

 

[kj6723]

She was 34. We had been dating for a year and she literally broke up with me when I proposed on our one year anniversary. Her exact statement was that she "can't have kids with someone that has the male pattern baldness gene, because it would not be fair to the child to be born with that."
She was uninformed and very conceited horrible person now that I look back.

Holy sh*t

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

Holy sh*t

Yeah it sucked. Hurt me bad but better off with out her.

 

[SteveTabernack]

She was 34. We had been dating for a year and she literally broke up with me when I proposed on our one year anniversary. Her exact statement was that she "can't have kids with someone that has the male pattern baldness gene, because it would not be fair to the child to be born with that."
She was uninformed and very conceited horrible person now that I look back.

Woah. This is beyond brutal. I would have just roped myself after something like that. Good on you for taking action against this disease.

1600 grafts indeed seems on the low side. Do you have some diffuse loss throughout the scalp also? Looks like it from the pics, in which case it might be a good idea to stay a bit conservative. Could just be due to wet hair though.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

Woah. This is beyond brutal. I would have just roped myself after something like that. Good on you for taking action against this disease.

1600 grafts indeed seems on the low side. Do you have some diffuse loss throughout the scalp also? Looks like it from the pics, in which case it might be a good idea to stay a bit conservative. Could just be due to wet hair though.

Yeah I went through a good month of depression and thought I looked like a freak of nature in my own head. That was until my brother snapped me out of it. Him and his husband convinced me to try and do something about my hair professionally, and here I am a year later and going through everything they said to do.

As for my hair, it's a lot thicker than it was. My doctor said I was a great responder to the Finasteride and Minoxidil. Although I never went through a shed. I kept waiting for that to happen and I did not notice any shedding, unless it was so gradual that it happened without me knowing that it happened. Like I said, I wish I took pics a year ago to show it. My doctor said that more than 1600 in the area that I wanted to be transplanted would be too much for all of the grafts to take root. I'm going in two days and I am listening to the doctor's advice. Like I said, all of the people I have seen that went to him give him an overwhelming positive rating. I'll post pics pre and post and probably daily/weekly to show progress.

 

[TONSofBODYHAIR]

Your hairloss saved your life mate

 

[SteveTabernack]

Yeah I went through a good month of depression and thought I looked like a freak of nature in my own head. That was until my brother snapped me out of it. Him and his husband convinced me to try and do something about my hair professionally, and here I am a year later and going through everything they said to do.

As for my hair, it's a lot thicker than it was. My doctor said I was a great responder to the Finasteride and Minoxidil. Although I never went through a shed. I kept waiting for that to happen and I did not notice any shedding, unless it was so gradual that it happened without me knowing that it happened. Like I said, I wish I took pics a year ago to show it. My doctor said that more than 1600 in the area that I wanted to be transplanted would be too much for all of the grafts to take root. I'm going in two days and I am listening to the doctor's advice. Like I said, all of the people I have seen that went to him give him an overwhelming positive rating. I'll post pics pre and post and probably daily/weekly to show progress.

Maybe look into some doctors known for great hairline work. If he literally can't get more than 1600 graft in that area it's due to a lack of skill. Keep in mind I'm no expert though. Just going by that I've seen tons of similar cases successfully get a higher graft number.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

f*** dude, I've never heard of such reply as to not wanting to be married.

I have a feeling she was using that as an excuse, but it was still said out loud.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

I got through it. The procedure was painless, after the first set of needles. f*** those needles in my skull was a b**ch! By the end of the day, they were losing their effect too and the swelling already started. I'll post pictures later. It's only been 2 days, but the donor area is already itchy. Using the ATP spray to the graft sites every hour to hour and half. I ended up getting 1800 grafts rather than 1600. The extra 200 was free, so that was cool.

 

[timnoise999]

She was 34. We had been dating for a year and she literally broke up with me when I proposed on our one year anniversary. Her exact statement was that she "can't have kids with someone that has the male pattern baldness gene, because it would not be fair to the child to be born with that."
She was uninformed and very conceited horrible person now that I look back.

she wont be having kids with anyone at that rate her biological clock is ticking

you dodged a bullet there, i personally would say 1600 is too many

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

she wont be having kids with anyone at that rate her biological clock is ticking

you dodged a bullet there...

f*** yeah I did. I'm much happier without her.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

This was day one after surgery.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

Day 3-4 - The scabs were already starting to itch, but more in the donor area. The swelling was starting to go down but damn did I look horrible. There wasn't any major pain, just slight dull pain in the donor area but I felt like I couldn't see because of how puffy my face was.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

And here's week 2. No more scabs or itchiness. I can finally work out again too. The grafted hair has not shed yet. It's suppose to happen this or next week I think. It's going to be freaky seeing it all come out and I'm preparing myself already, so I don't panic. Because I will. Funny, my non-donor/non-grafted regular hair has shed like crazy though. That was freaking me out a little bit. I'll post a one month in a couple weeks.

 

[timnoise999]

You might be lucky, the area you have had done was my first to grow and Covered up almost 3 months post op. Most of my hair there didn't shed and carried on growing fingers crossed you get that too. The other person who was at the same clinic as me on the same day had the same with that bit growing right away.

 

[GaryinGeorgia]

You might be lucky, the area you have had done was my first to grow and Covered up almost 3 months post op. Most of my hair there didn't shed and carried on growing fingers crossed you get that too. The other person who was at the same clinic as me on the same day had the same with that bit growing right away.

Fingers crossed that happens! I always count on the worst to happen, so I'm not going to hold my breath, but I can hope a little bit. Do you have pics of your over procedures?